My View: Will we be Enchanted by Princess? (Live Views from a Princess Newbie)

[APDMOM]

Morning Cappuccino:

 

TIP: There are three venues I have found where you can order special coffee, like lattes and cappuccinos.  One is in the Marketplace by the pastries, another on deck 7 in the Princess Live Cafe, and the third is at the International Cafe.  So far, my favorite one is in the marketplace, as I like their cappuccino in real mugs.

 

 

[APDMOM]

Early morning swim:

 

My preferred mode of exercise is swimming laps.  Even though the pools are small, I was able to work in 80 laps before 8 AM, with only 2 other people joining toward the end of my routine. I like that the pools open early on Princess!  
 

TIP: If you like exercising, you will be happy to hear that the fitness center is open 24 hours - such an improvement over other cruiselines.

[JGmf]

Lots of kids in the pools during the day?

[APDMOM]

Welcome to Princess Event:

 

This event was for ‘first-time Princess’ cruisers.  It was a fun event, but I was surprised that there was not more insider tips at this presentation.  I would have expected a bit more details about the loyalty program.  I did enjoy the way they ‘stole the identities’ of the officers and expected us to ask questions to figure out who they were.  

 

TIP: If you are a first-time Princess cruiser, they handed out some good prizes, using the Medallion to determine whether you are in the audience.  Although we did not win anything, it was worth attending. 

 

 

[jbrain]

Gorgeous!!

[bandp407]

10 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Live Entertainment:

We scoped out the live entertainment around the ship tonight.  WOW!  There is so much talent here.  We could hardly choose a favorite, but Pinnacle ended up taking that spot.  However, we did not see all the live entertainment yet, so the final verdict is still pending.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the steel drum music - very mellow and classy!  I did not think I would enjoy that for an evening lounge experience, but it was really different from other steel drum performers I had seen in the past.  This will be one of my go-to places this week.

 

We also enjoyed Glitz Duo and Gold Strings Duo.

 

The pub entertainment was enjoyable, but that space is too small - it was packed.  It is an Irish duo and not something I can listen to all evening.  

 

I will post some video samples later this week.

Loving your review - thank you! We sail the Enchanted in 3 weeks. Sailed her in May, our first Princess Cruise after 41 cruises! It’s a very beautiful ship , very alive, wonderful service and like you we really enjoyed the Pinnacle band. Have a fabulous week! I will be  following along and getting more excited with each day! 

[APDMOM]

Afternoon fun:

We had lunch in the buffet but made the mistake to show up right at opening time.  It was relatively quiet and not a problem to find a table.  However, some of the better food options did not open until we were about done.  This included the station with curry and themed dishes.  

 

TIP: The buffet does not open all at once on sea days for lunch.  While they clean up the end of breakfast, the lunch buffet opens with traditional options.  If you want the full buffet experience, wait about 30 minutes to one hour.

 

The salad bar continues to be impressive!  Once again, we were disappointed with some of the meals.  The shepherd’s pie had some very low grade meat - lots of grizzle.  We have decided the only meat that is consistently good is the chicken.

 

Behind the Seas:

 

Like a good, loving, supportive wife, I joined DH for some geeky not-so-general knowledge facts about the engineering aspects of the cruise.  It was fun to attend, the facts wow’ed with just the right amount of braincell activation, but don’t ask me to repeat any of that jargon 🤣

 

[APDMOM]

Aviator Challenge:

Forgot that we also attended the aviator challenge - at least the tail end.  Participants fold a paper plane and they are required to fly it through a hula hoop a couple of decks down.  Finalists are chosen based upon the ‘gliding’ ability of the plane.  If the plane glides through the hula hoop, you are also automatically a finalist.  It was quite fun to watch.  At the end, finalists participate to attempt to land the planes on the airstrip.  

 

Geeky Paper Plane TIP: If you participate in this challenge, it is more about how you throw/release the plane than how you fold it.  Most contestants failed because they tried to throw the planes downward toward the hula hoop.  Those who just threw the planes straight did the best.

 

 

[APDMOM]

2 hours ago, JGmf said:

Lots of kids in the pools during the day?

Sorry I don’t know the answer to this.  It was extremely hot, so we left the pools by 8:15 AM to participate in more indoor activities.  I have not seen many kids on the ship at all.  I will check tomorrow, and especially on the next sea day.  

 

During the sail-away, there was only one kid in the aft pool, but it was pretty crowded anyway due to so many adults enjoying the pools.  I will keep posting about ‘crowded’ vs. ‘quiet’ spaces as the week goes along.

[APDMOM]

Balcony Time:

On sea days, we usually enjoy the quiet balcony.  Unfortunately, it was extremely hot.  I forgot how hot aft balconies get during summer cruises in the Caribbean.  I lasted about 14 minutes on the lounger before I decided it was just not fun on that sauna.

 

 

The views from the comfort of the air conditioning are still pretty spectacular and worth the slight upcharge.

[APDMOM]

I will finish up day 2 tomorrow. It has been a busy, but lovely day!

 

Thank you for following along! 🙂

[hiccups]

We are boarding on Saturday for our first Princess cruise, so thanks for all the tips!

[APDMOM]

Dinner Menu:

Since it was formal night, we opted for dinner in the buffet - we are not much into dressing up anymore.  We will occasionally, but we were not in the mood to ‘go all out’.  I just put on a shiny shirt, with DH wearing long black pants so that we could attend the champagne waterfall without standing out too much 😄

 

 

 

PS: They had very good arancini in the buffet.

Edited July 15 by APDMOM
verbiage

[APDMOM]

Champagne Waterfall:

 

TIP:  If you would like to assist to pour the champagne with a professional picture, stand close to the waterfall area to line up.  

 

Before the officers appeared, the show dancers performed one dance:

 

 

 

Jody, our cruise director from South Africa:

 

Captain Mario Ciruzzi:

 

A cruise couple assisting to pour champagne:

[555]

7 minutes ago, APDMOM said:

Since it was formal night, we opted for dinner in the buffet - we are not much into dressing up anymore.

Formal dress isn't a "requirement" for the DR either. 

[APDMOM]

TIP:  The Princess Theater is very well laid out.  When you enter from deck 7, the left side has many prime seats blocked off for those with Princess Premier.  If you do not have Premier, enter toward the right for similar seating on the other side.  I recommend entering from deck 7 to find good seating.  The Premier seating is only released 5 minutes before the show for general seating.

 

Production Show: Spotlight Bar

 

The show was entertaining enough, but many of the songs were not appealing to me.  I am a BIG Reba fan, so I was happy they included some country music with “Why haven't I heard from you?”

 

Just a few views from the show.  No video or flash photography allowed.

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

5 minutes ago, 555 said:

Formal dress isn't a "requirement" for the DR either. 

Yes, that is what we were heard. 🙂   I just like to follow the guidelines and noticed this cruise is especially quite dressy.  However, there was still a good mix of more formal to more casual.  We would have been comfortable with going to the MDR the way we were dressed - we just preferred a less formal setting.  We plan on giving the MDR another try tonight. 

[APDMOM]

My View: End of day 2 - At Sea

 

We were treated to another spectacular lightning show from our balcony

 

 

 

 

[kluv2cruz]

Follow “cruisedirectorjody” on social media - she posts fun pics from your ship daily! And she just hid a custom Jody painted white duck in the computer room by a window 14 minutes ago!

[NikiPinkston]

Thank you for taking us along, @APDMOM. I love your writing style. We'll be taking our first Princess cruise soon, so I really appreciate your tips and all of your great photos! Have a wonderful cruise!

[APDMOM]

Princess Patter Day 2 - At Sea

 

Download PDF:

Enchanted Princess.pdf

[Wishing on a star]

Love your trip report!  Great photos!!!

That show looks like quite a visual production and set!  Have not seen that one.

What other shows are onboard???

[wallyj]

14 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Love your trip report!  Great photos!!!

That show looks like quite a visual production and set!  Have not seen that one.

What other shows are onboard???

Depends on the itinerary, current Enchanted productions shows are, Spotlight Bar, 5 Skies, and Rock Opera. Last month, I did B2B. First 7 day, all 3 Production shows performed, next 7 day, only 2 (no 5 Skies).

Edited July 15 by wallyj

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 3 - Cozumel

 

[APDMOM]

TIP:  Time changes during the second night - fall back one hour.